Ocean s Dream
by MissMoonlightdancer
Summary: Wataru lived his whole life on a small island. When strangers come to that island, weird things start happening. Who are they? And what are they doing here?
1. Kumejima Island

**First of all, this is only try. In case the readers don´t like this, I´ll delete it again. I know I already tried writing a story for Otrfk, but I failed and deleted that story again. But I made up my mind to write a story about my favorite BL-Pairing again and this is the result. No Tokyo, No apartment, No Highschool. **

**Setting is an island 100 kilometers away from Okinawa. **

**So, really, just in case the readers like this, I might continue it. If not, I´ll get rid of it again.**

**Disclaimer: I don´t own Only the Ring Finger knows.  
**

* * *

The sun burned mercilessly down and the rays broke themselves a million times in the sapphire blue waves of the Pacific Ocean. High above the snow-white and expensive yacht a few gulls were flying, squeaking and screaming. The whitecaps sparkled in the bright light and he could clearly see his blurred mirror image in the blue, while the yacht was racing over the water.

"It looks adorable, doesn´t it?" the woman next to him smiled, one hand holding her big sunhat so it wouldn´t fly away due to the pace of the ship.

He shrugged disinterested and leaned his back against the railing.

"What´s with that grimly face of yours?" the black haired woman continued, smirking at him.

"My dear Mizuho, I assure you that that island looks like all the others I´ve visited before already" the young man sighed.

"So what?"

"I´m going to spend my whole summer vacation there"

"And you´re complaining? You have vacation, it´s summer, the weather is awesome and you´re sulking like an offended child"

"I´m not sulking"

"So what´s your problem then?" "

It´s just… it´s nothing new anymore"

The woman called Mizuho raised her eyebrows, but then she shrugged and went back to little white table with the two chairs and the cocktails. The young man glanced over his shoulder to the small island. Then he followed her.

...

"WAKE UP! Where the hell are you? It´s almost twelve o´clock and you´re still sleeping! The waves are awesome today, so GET UP!" a loud and familiar voice yelled and the door to his small room slammed open.

He heard the noise of the shutters being roughly pulled up and the bright light stabbed into his eyes, blinding him for a few moments. Next thing he knew was the familiar weight of his best friend as he jumped onto him and hitting him with his pillow.

"Urghnn…Gimme back my pillow…" he yawned and nuzzled his face into the sheets.

"Wake up!"

"Kawamura…it´s the first day of summer vacation…let me sleep in at least today…"

"You´ve slept long enough! Get up now!"

The smaller boy tried to turn to his other side, but Kawamura gripped his blanket and pulled it away. An annoyed groan was the result. The taller boy snickered and threw the blanket into the farthest corner of the room. "I´ll wait for you on the street and don´t fall asleep again!" he shouted and he heard him jump down the stairs and greeting his mother in the garden.

The smaller boy sighed and sat up. He was seventeen, a 2nd year at his Highschool and lived since he was born on this little island Kumejima. Actually it wasn´t that small, but most of the around 8500 people on it lived in the biggest city, which was also called Kumejima. But his and a few other families lived in a bay a few kilometers away from that city. He went into the small bathroom next to his room and washed his face. Then he ran a comb once or twice through his black hair, got dressed and walked down into the kitchen, grabbing a toast and an apple. Outside, his mother was talking to Kawamura.

"Good morning honey" his mother greeted him as soon as she saw him.

He greeted back. "We´ll be at the beach, _kaasan_" he told her and took a bite from his toast.

"C´mon now, _Wataru_! The others are all there already!" his best friend ranted.

"H-hey! Wait for me!" Wataru gripped his surfboard from the house wall and ran after him.

...

"Guys! You won´t believe what I´m gonna tell you!" a cheerful and excited voice shouted a few hours later as they laid down into the warm sand, resting from the surfing. Wataru rolled onto his stomach, watching his one year younger sister Karin and one of her classmates, Ookusa Miho, approaching.

"What is it, Karin?" Tachibana Mai, a classmate of Wataru, asked interested and sat up on her colorful towel.

"I saw a super expensive yacht anchoring at the beach a few hundred meters from here at the west side of the island" the girl replied without breathing.

The 2nd years in front of her lying in the sand raised their eyebrows.

"A super expensive yacht? In Kumejima? No way" Kawamura mumbled.

The younger girl pouted "Come with me and I´ll show you!"

"Have you seen the owners of the yacht at least?" another guy asked.

Miho nodded "Yup. We saw the captain and a dog"

"A dog?"

"Yes. Such a small, long dog… Forgot the name…"

"Why don´t we just go and see if she´s right?" Mai asked.

Wataru rolled back onto his back. "But isn´t it a bit rude to go there and watch them? Maybe they´re here on holiday" he insisted.

"Just another reason to check out what kind of people they are. What I wanna say is…who the hell would come to Kumejima for _holiday_?" Miho said.

The 2nd years in the sand changed gazes. She had made quite point. And of course, they were curious, since nothing ever happened on their island.

"C´mon, Wataru. They won´t call the cops just because we watched them a little bit" Kawamura said and poked his arm.

The smaller boy rolled his eyes "I´ll stay here"

"Actually he´s dying to snatch a look on them, he only tries to hide it" his sister chuckled.

"T-that´s not true" he snapped and blushed.

His classmates laughed.

"Let´s go, check them out already!" Kawamura grinned.

...

"I can´t believe we´re doing this. It´s almost like we were some terrorists" he mumbled and glared at his father.

"I just don´t want to catch too much attention"

"Then why did you buy this totally _pretentious_ yacht? If you don´t want to catch attention then come to this island with a rowboat"

His father sighed "Stop being so negative. I´m pretty sure you´ll change your mind about spending your vacation here"

He muttered a wry response and went back on deck. Actually, the island looked like a jewel, even though he had only seen a small part of it till now. The azure blue water licking at the almost white beach and slowly loosing itself between the green palms, flowers and plants was indeed a nice image.

"Uncle Yuichi! Lift me up!" a high, girly voice interrupted his thoughts. He looked down and saw his cute little niece smiling up to him. He smiled back and his mood lightened up a bit. He grabbed her under the arms and sat her down on the railing, but carefully keeping one arm wrapped around her waist so she wouldn´t fall down.

"Uncle Yuichi, are we gonna spend holiday here?" she asked cheerfully.

"I guess so"

"And mommy and daddy aren´t here?"

"No, they´re on a business trip" _And forced me to babysit you in the meantime…_

"I wanna go to the beach!" she yelled brightly and threw her arms into the air, almost hitting his nose.

"Together with Puru?" he chuckled and as if sensing that he was part of the topic, the small dachshund ran towards them, keenly waving his tail.

"With Puru!" his niece chirped. "And with Auntie Mizuho!"

"Alright"

He lifted her back down onto the deck and she ran off to look for the black haired woman.

...

Wataru felt on one hand kinda stupid to hide between a few bushes and watch the yacht, but on the other hand it was somewhat exciting, like they´d discover some awkward secret. His tanned skin was still sandy and slightly moist from lying on the beach and surfing, but his hair started to dry already beneath the hot afternoon sun. Like all the guys he was still shirtless and his swim trunks still wet, but he didn´t mind. In summer, everyone ran around like that.

"Hey! There´s something happening now" Karin in front of him whispered suddenly.

"Shht!"

They watched a young man climbing down the ladder into the water, but it was only knee deep at that point. He wearied light blue, almost white jeans and a loose buttoned shirt. His legs were long and nicely shaped, like those of an athlete. His skin was a lighter than theirs and his hair was blond. From their point, they couldn´t see his face, but even now he already seemed like a fashion model to them.

"Holy crap, he´s hot" Mai said breathlessly and her eyes stuck to the young man.

"Mai, if you continue staring at him like that, he´ll surely notice us" Kawamura hissed.

"Shut up, you´re just jealous"

"You-!"

"Quiet the two of you!" Wataru and his sister commanded at the same time. The two shot each other furious glares, but kept silent and returned their eyes to the yacht.

Now a small girl with the same light skin as the man but with long blond locks and in a fluffy yellow dress came down the ladder, a cute dog pressed tightly against her chest. The man held out his arms and she squeaked and jump into them. He caught her safely and let the two of them down into the water.

Next was a woman in a white dress and with a big white sunhat. She held her sandals in one hand, but even like that her movements looked so gracious that all of the guys held on their breaths. She also had pale skin, but black hair at shoulder length. She was just as beautiful as the man was. The three of them and the dog started heading towards the beach and the bunch of youths hiding in the bushes were simply enchanted.

...

"Do you think they´re fashion models? They´re all so beautiful, no, _gorgeous_" Mai whispered.

"Maybe they´re even a family" Karin mused.

"I don´t think so, the man looks too young to have such a big daughter already…" Miho pointed out.

"'Big daughter'?" Kawamura chuckled.

"Oh, you know what I mean… He´s barely older than us!"

Wataru didn´t follow the conversation between his friends further, he only silently watched the people standing on the beach now, talking to each other, until the small girl started running and the dog, too. The man and the woman followed slower.

"Guys, let´s go back now, enough stalking" one guy said, but no one moved.

Wataru bit his lip, but then he turned around to his friends. "Really, let´s go now. Maybe we´ll see them again tomorrow and we could offer them to show them the island"

"Great idea" the girls chirped.

The boys just shrugged, even though all of them still stared at the beautiful formed back of the woman.

Then they all disappeared between the palms again, going back to their surfboards and towels in the sand.

* * *

**To be continued... (Or not...)**

**So, this was the (first?) chapter. I hope you liked it^^**

**Please review :)  
**


	2. Crash

**Hi there =D  
**

**First of all, thanks for all your lovely Reviews, which are the reason why I decided to continue this story. I hope that all of you will enjoy this chap =D**

**And, I want to say that I feel so terribly terribly sorry for the people in Japan right now. The earth quakes and the tsunami were awful.**

** I pray that all those who lost their homes won´t lose their hope and I want to express my condolence to the families and relatives of those who have died.  
**

* * *

During summer vacation, when both he and his sister were outside beneath the sun all day, the Fuji family had dinner always quite late in the evening. But no one bothered, because they sat outside in their large garden, the table and food enlightened by lanterns that hung from the roof rails and candles. Here they sat and ate and talked long into the night, watching shy fireflies dancing in the air not from them, as if they were curious of what things they were talking about.

When the first bats appeared in the darkness, their father always said it was time to go inside to let the bats have their space for having 'dinner' themselves. When he had still been younger, Wataru had always believed that his father didn´t want them to get bitten by the bats. Now he knew that the bats were hunting small insects and that they´d disturb them doing that if they´d still sit outside.

He saw the fleeting silhouettes of the bats flying through the air and hurried to put the plates together and carry them back into the house. A few minutes later, his mother gently closed the door to the garden.

...

His family members continued their cheerful conversation in their small but comfortable living room. He, on the other hand, said 'Good Night' and jumped up the narrow stairs into the second floor and his room. He closed the door behind him and sat down on the window sill of his favorite window on the right side from the bed-head.

Here he could see directly down to the forest and the bay and the ocean. All the places he loved so much. He wrapped his arms around one knee and let the other dangle down from the window. His bare feet felt the cool wind coming from the sea.

He felt the familiar breeze caressing his cheek. He tasted the slightly salty taste of the Pacific on his lips. He sighed and looked up to the millions of silver blinking stars sparkling high above the sea. He could even see the blurry mirror image of the moon breaking in the dark blue water. He heard the rush of the ocean, the sound which had followed him through all his life. From the day he had been born in this house in the room of his parents, he had listened to this song.

He smiled.

But somehow, it was a sad smile.

...

Kazuki Yuichi rested on his back, his arms crossed behind his head, on the snow-white beach of Kumejima Island. Even now, hours after the sunset, the sand still felt warm and soft.

He sighed deeply and tried to catch some kind of sound or something. But it was so uncomfortably silent here. There was nothing, except the sound of the crashing waves and the wind whispering in the palm trees. No traffic sounds. No party laughter. Not even the sound of an arriving or departing plane. He frowned deeply and opened his icy blue eyes.

This island was so very different from his home. From Tokyo. From one of the biggest cities in the world. In Tokyo, time flew as fast as a bolt in a thunder storm. Here, he had to look onto his watch again and again to make sure, the minutes and hours still passed.

He grimaced and sat up, running a hand through his sandy hair. He´d spend his whole summer vacation here. Far from his friends. Far from his home. Far from the city. Far from everything he still enjoyed in his boring life.

He laid his head back into his neck and stared up to the moon. Wishing his life to become colorful and exciting again, just the way it had been as he still hadn´t known anything other than Tokyo in this world. As he had still believed that the earth was endless.

And full of stupid, silly, wonderful miracles.

...

Wataru moved his eyes away from his beloved bay and let them travel through his small room which seemed just as alive as he was. If someone would look at this room, no one could tell how old the boy was who lived here.

His desk was covered with school books and notebooks and worksheets and pieces of paper with bored scribbles on them. His bookshelves almost collapsed from the weight of his books and other stuff he used to collect there. From the ceiling, a wooden plane hung down, which he and his after had build when he had been around the age of ten, together with his lamp and a self-made dreamcatcher.

The walls of his room where all covered with posters. Of movies, of bands and, of course, places he wanted to visit some day in his life, like the Eiffel Tower in Paris or the Times Square in New York or Big Ben in London. His big black eyes rested on the globe on his night table. He reached one hand out and flipped the switch and the inside of the globe was enlightened so he could study the surface. He tried to find the name of his island, but it was too small to be mentioned.

His gaze travelled back to the horizon, where the sky and the ocean touched. Somewhere behind, there was a huge, endless world. And like so often before already, he felt an aching emptiness in his heart.

...

The next day, Takako announced cheerfully that she wanted to visit the 'town' together with him and Mizuho. He agreed with a smile, but wondered silently if forty-four houses and a school could be called a town. There was only one road and on both sides there were twenty-two houses, each build in the same small but somewhat cute and pretty way. There was one bakery and a stationary shop. And at the end of the road, there was the combined Elementary-, Middle- and Highschool. He had asked his father how many classes there were. He had explained him that in each grade there was only one class with around five to eight students. But at least that meant that there were some youths the same age as he was.

"Yuichi, stop frowning or you´ll get wrinkles" Mizuho told him as they walked through the forest.

The path was narrow and looked more like a trail. The plants and trees on each side were big and green and seemed to grow here perfectly. With each step he felt the ends of leaves and flowers tickling his arms and his face. It felt weird, but not in a bad way. His niece and her dog enjoyed it of course.

"I´m eighteen, I´m still far from getting wrinkles" he replied, but relaxed his face nevertheless and sighed.

"Uncle! We´re there!" his niece suddenly chirped and he refocused on his surroundings.

The houses had all neat, wild front gardens, which colorful plants and trees and twigs reached over the fence, shading parts of the dusty, empty road. Takako and Puru started running down the street, the girl squeaking and the dog woofing, only half an octave lower.

"Catch me, Uncle Yuichi!" Takako yelled cheerfully.

"Have fun!" Mizuho grinned at him and waved at the little girl.

"Thanks a lot" he grimaced, but started running after his niece, just the way she always liked it. Of course he ran slower than usual, so she could still escape his hands. The first curious heads appeared above their fences, probably confused seeing three, or, including Puru, four unfamiliar faces in their neighborhood.

And then it happened.

...

It was nothing special to the youths of Kumejima, if their friends suddenly appeared in their rooms in the morning and often even woke them up. So Wataru wasn´t surprised, rather angry, at waking up with a cold washcloth landing in his face the next day. Immediately he was wide awake, jumped up from his mattress and threw his pillow at his best friend.

"Damn you! Why can´t you ever let me sleep in, idiot!" he yelled.

Kawamura laughed and dodged the pillow easily.

"It´s always fun waking you up, moron" he snickered.

Then he ducked hastily as a shoe was thrown next.

"Oh, and your mum allowed me to help myself in the kitchen. I guess there´re no cornflakes left for you…"

A wild chase began, the taller boy almost suffocating at his own laughter, as the smaller boy hunted him with the washcloth in his hands down the stairs, through the living room, kitchen and garden, passing his mum ("_'d Morning, Kaa-san!_") and around the house to the front garden. Kawamura jumped through a hole in one of their high, wildly growing hydrangea bushes over the low fence on the street. He didn´t stop running as he heard a dog barking and a girl squeaking.

He jumped right through the familiar hole in the bushes which he and Kawamura had used already so often before. But this time, he didn´t land safely on the street. He opened his eyes wide in surprise and then crashed into something thin and tall and hard and both he and whatever he had hit landed on the ground, confused and disoriented.

Wataru rubbed his head with a sour expression on his face, his hands and knees slightly bruised, but he didn´t mind.

"What the hell were you up to, idiot? Did you want to kill me?" an angry and completely unfamiliar voice snapped.

He looked up – and saw the guy from the yacht right in front of him.

* * *

**To be continued...**

**So, I hope all of you enjoyed this^^**

**Please Review =)  
**


	3. Monkey and Albatross

**Hello^^**

**Finally I got this chapter done! **

** Thank you for all your kind reviews =D I never would've thought that the fans of the OtRFk series would be that interesed in this story, but it makes me so very very happy =D**

**And, as an excuse for letting you wait for so long, this chapter is a bit longer** **than the others^^**

**This story is dedicated to my dearest and best friend Nina-chan *Love you!***

**BTW: The lyrics are from the song 'Breakaway' by Kelly Clarkson. Usually I don't listen to that kind of music, but I just love that song and I thought from the very beginning that it'd fit the plot well :)**

**Please enjoy^^  
**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Only the Ring Finger knows.  
**

* * *

His embarrassment of knocking the guy down vanished as soon as he heard his arrogant way of talking to him.

"Hey, don't call me an idiot! I'm sorry, ok, but there's no reason to snap at me! Nothing of you is hurt, except your head maybe, but nothing worse happened, so calm down!" he shot back and jumped up onto his naked feet, glaring at the taller boy.

The icy blue eyes refocused on him and he swallowed meeting the intense gaze, but kept their eyes locked. Then they were pulled out of their silent battle of who would give in first and look away, as Kawamura suddenly appeared next to Wataru, scratching the back of his head.

"I guess I'm sorry, too, Dude. This monkey jumped after me and I saw you too late… So, I'm sorry… And by the way, I'm Kawamura"

"Whom are you calling monkey?" Wataru asked and turned to face his best friend in a deep frown.

"Where's a monkey, Uncle?" a little girl's voice added to their conversation.

Wataru looked down and saw the small girl with her dog sitting next to her feet staring back up at him. Her uncle smirked in a really nasty way and pointed at him.

"Here's the monkey, Takako. Come on, ask him to play with you"

"What-?"

"Yuichi! Stop teasing the poor boy" someone said briskly.

Next to the man the beautiful black-haired woman from the yacht appeared. Kawamura blushed as red as a ripe tomato, but Wataru was more busy realizing that she was already a bit too old for his best friend. Although she was really, really pretty, she was already like twenty-five or even older. And she behaved like an older sister, not like a lover toward the blond man.

"I'm sorry for the trouble. We just arrived here yesterday and this girl can't sit still for a minute, neither can her dog. My name is Mizuho. This boy here is Kazuki Yuichi, the brother of Takako's father. We're here on holiday"

Mizuho had a calm, friendly and kind of dulcet voice you could listen to for hours. During her explanation, Kazuki Yuichi had crossed his arms in front of his chest and looked round, as if pretending not to hear her. His niece however, kept on calling for his attention by asking him again and again, why the 'weird boy' was a monkey.

...

"I'm Fujii Wataru and this is Kawamura. We live here"

"Yes, I thought so. Well, do you guys want to guide us over your beautiful island? I bet you know all kinds of places here, right?" Mizuho continued, perfectly conversational.

Kazuki sighed in silent annoyance.

"Uhm…" Kawamura made, not certain of how to response now.

"Oh, don't mind him. He's just in a bad mood right now, because you knocked him down, Fujii-kun. Sooner or later he'll be friendly again" 

_Sure?_ Wataru thought doubtfully, but kept it to himself. He didn't believe that the boy could _ever _be friendly to anyone. But Mizuho was nice and the girl, Takako, kind of cute, so he honestly thought about the request. And even if he didn't want to, his friends surely would like to guide those strangers over Kumejima Island.

"Well, I'd love to show you our little island!" Kawamura said excitedly and without breathing. "You, too, right, Wataru?"

Mizuho looked at him with her big, black eyes which shined bright in kindness and his resistance melted away.

"Yes, of course" he said and thought to himself _I'll stab you someday, Kawamura…_

"Ok, then how about this afternoon?"

"Sure. We'll wait at the bay where your yacht is anchoring" Kawamura chirped brightly.

Wataru stepped on his foot, but it was already too late. Mizuho and Kazuki raised their eyebrows.

"Idiot" Wataru whispered.

"Yeah, well… We er... saw it by uhm… accident yesterday, to be honest, hahaha" Kawamura stuttered and his cheeks were as red as flames now.

Thank god his embarrassment didn't take over Wataru, who decided to rescue the situation for his own good.

"We were surfing not far from the bay where you anchored and my sister and her friend were walking over the island, so it was just a matter of time until we'd see you. It's not easy to come here without us noticing it"

Mizuho's lips pulled into an amused grin, while Kazuki didn't look too satisfied with his explanation. But it was nearly the truth, actually.

"And, by the way, the yacht looks awesome. There's nothing like that here on Kumejima Island" Wataru said and smiled as innocently as he could.

"You can come visit us anytime" Mizuho said just as he hoped for and Wataru's heart jumped in excitement.

"Me too?" Kawamura asked hopefully.

"Of course"

"Why don't you invite the whole village, Mizuho?" Kazuki asked ironically between gritted teeth.

"Oh, stop being so mean" she said and all her kindness was gone.

She parked her fists against her hips and even though she was like ten inches smaller than him, he seemed to shrink beneath her reproachful gaze. Wataru and Kawamura changed gazes. That woman was definitely not one to mess with. After a bit more of meaningless conversation, Wataru heard his mother calling for him. So they decided to meet again at around 4 o'clock in the afternoon. The woman and the girl waved cheerfully; Kazuki only nodded and walked away without another word.

"Are you gonna to tell all our friends?" Wataru asked Kawamura, before climbing back through the bushes into their garden.

"I guess so. I wanna see their faces when I tell them that I talked to her" the boy snickered.

Wataru rolled his eyes, but he knew that side of his best friend already.

"See ya later"

"Yeah"

Kawamura disappeared down the road and Wataru finally got the chance to eat his breakfast.

...

"You should have apologized properly, Wataru" his mother said a little disappointedly and looked at him while sitting down next to him at the table in their small but really comfortable kitchen. Like every family on the island, they let all their doors and windows open during summer, so anyone could enter at any time. There were so few people that it'd be just stupid to try to steal something, since everyone knew each other.

"You should've listened to him, Kaa-san! He was so rude!" he said and shoveled a spoon full of crumpled eggs into his mouth, together with a fork full with rice. "He was so unfriendly!"

"Don't talk with your mouth full" Mrs. Fujii sighed and shook her head at her childish son.

"Besides, maybe he was in a bad mood from the very beginning. Try to be nice to him this afternoon, will you, honey?"

He shrugged and swallowed. "If he is nice to me"

"Good boy" She ruffled his hair and returned to her paperwork on the table outside.

"Kaa-san?" Wataru yelled, too lazy to stand up.

"Yes, dear?"

"Is Karin up already?"

"No"

He grinned. "Tell her to clear the table"

"Then you'll do so after lunch"

"Maybe…"

He jumped up and ran upstairs.

...

"Oh, are you kidding? You _must _be kidding" Kazuki Yuichi said peevishly as he saw the group of youths waiting on the beach, all their heads turned to the yacht. "I thought only that monkey and his dumb friend will show us their silly piece of island! This is half of all the folks that live here!"

"Be quiet! You're so rude, Yuichi" Mizuho commanded. "It's actually pretty nice of them to guide us over their place, so don't act so arrogantly, ok? They'll get a completely wrong idea of us if you don't change your bad attitude and temper!"

He rested his chin in his hand and glared at the older woman. He was in no mood to go down there and let all those girls stare at him and he was definitely not in the mood to pretend to want to see their island, since everything he wanted was to leave as soon as possible, though he knew that was totally impossible at the moment.

"It'll be fun and Takako wants to go"

"You can go without me"

"I can, but Takako can't"

His niece had followed their whole conversation surprisingly silent and now she looked at him with her big blue eyes which glittered with tears. His shoulders dropped and he sighed in defeat.

"Ok ok, I give up" he said a lot friendlier and opened his arms so Takako could hug him and climb onto his lap like she always loved to, but she surprised him anew as she shook her head and pouted "I wanna go see the monkey with black eyes again" 

_Honestly…? _He thought without enthusiasm.

"Take a look, Takako, he's down there with his friends" Mizuho said and waved.

Yuichi stood up and braced himself for whatever was going to happen this afternoon and evening.

...

It wasn't exactly like he had imagined it to be and that was something positive at least. The youths all were around his age and actually pretty easy to get along with. They were funny and everyone seemed a little bit crazy, too. Yes, and they _all_ seemed to love dangerous places and even more doing dangerous things.

It all started rather 'innocent'. A girl with black hair at shoulder-length (he later found out that she was the little monkey's sister, Karin) took the lead, so that the other girls could get their chances to talk with him, which she seemed not to be that interested in, and it actually impressed him. Most of the guys were clinging to Mizuho, made her laugh and tried to impress her and told her again and again that she was the most beautiful person they had ever seen in their lives. To be honest, he even believed them.

The youths first showed them some caves near the shore and told some wild stories about an old pirate's treasure being hidden down there and thousands of traps and how many, many people had tried to find the gold and jewels but had to leave empty-handed after losing orientation in that maze of tunnels and caves and how they got crazy after seeing some kind of ghosts or whatever. Takako listened with brightly shining eyes and even Puru seemed to listen carefully. Mizuho seemed to like the stories, too, because she even climbed down with a few boys into the first cave to see how it looked like.

"Why didn't you come with us?" she asked with an excited flush on her cheeks as they came back.

"It was really nice"

"…Hmm…" he shrugged.

"Oh lord, Yuichi, what's going to become of you?" she sighed and put her sandals back on.

He grimaced and she chuckled lightly.

...

Then they were lead through wild forests and over rough cliffs, they saw more caves and heard even scarier stories and they climbed up some weirdly formed rocks that looked like the evil grinning faces of water dragons or giants and, the 'highlight', was a cliff like thirty meters above the Pacific Ocean.

Kazuki stepped to the edge of the cliff and looked down. The water down there crashed pretty fiercely against the crags. He turned around. He had a beautiful view over the island. The deep green forests looked like covered with gold in the evening sun and in the valleys, mist was gathering and the sun let it look like light clouds out of silver droplets. Close to the horizon, he saw the shadows of the biggest town slowly fade into the darker getting sea, which seemed to swallow the small ships and boats at the harbor.

"That's so high!" Takako said stunned and pressed Puru to her chest, who whimpered in a high voice.

"Takako, step back" he said and put his arm around her shoulders, so she wouldn't go any further.

"Does one die when jumping down?" Mizuho wanted to know and everyone could see that she felt slightly uncomfortable.

"No or at least, till now no one has died yet" Karin answered with a mischievous grin on her face.

"So the people _do _jump down there?" the woman continued, raising her nicely shaped eyebrows in surprise.

"Isn't it dangerous?"

"A bit, but surfing is also dangerous and we keep on doing it" a pretty girl with long blond locks said and her eyes flashed over to Yuichi. He pretended not to notice it.

"Hey, let's show them!" one boy said excitedly.

"Great idea, I wasn't up to walk the whole way back, anyway" the smallest boy, who happened to be Fujii Wataru, said.

Kazuki looked at him. The boy was wearing swim trunks and was just about to take off his t-shirt and thongs.

"Will you bring them back down, Karin?" he asked his sister in a tone like he knew the answer already.

"Sure, no problem, if you set the table tomorrow morning" she answered and smiled at him.

He rolled his eyes but nodded.

...

"Wait, Fujii-kun, you don't have to do this" Mizuho said in a hurry and now she really looked worried. But he smiled at her and Kazuki noticed a strange fire burning in his black eyes. A fire, lighter than the sun. Kazuki's gaze wandered unconsciously down the boy's body.

He was slim, his arms and legs lanky, not too muscular but not fragile, either. He bet that at first, the boy had had pure black hair, but after years of playing and surfing and swimming and living beneath the sun, his hair had gotten lighter to a light chocolate brown with a few darker strands. It looked like he didn't know the meaning of the word 'comb'. On the opposite, his skin was tanned and flawless except from a few scars on his knees and elbows and the new bruises from this morning's accident. What caught his eyes was (next to some colorful wristbands on his left wrist and two around his left ankle) the necklace the boy was wearing, but he stood too far away to see what kind of necklace it was.

"Don't worry, Mizuho-san, it's not the first time he jumps down there" Karin explained reassuringly.

"Go, Wataru!"

"Fly, Fujii!" the boys cheered.

Fujii Wataru grinned at his friends, before he climbed up some large rocks as big as some rowboats and took a few steps back. Kazuki watched him intently and for a second, he believed that Wataru's eyes had rested on him, but maybe it had just been the sun.

_It looks like he wants to jump into the sunset_, he mused.

Then the boy ran – jumped - and flew, his shadow passing over the cliff like the one of a wild, beautiful, untamed albatross.

Then, after three-quarters of an endless heartbeat, there was a mighty splash. And the youths ran wild with cheerfulness.

...

The fire cracked and orange glowing sparks jumped through the night chilly air. For them, the 'gorgeous guests and strangers' as Miho called them; they had put up a large bonfire on the beach where they used to surf and hang out together. A few girls had even brought dough for breads on a stick, together with fresh fruits, sweets and something to drink. Now they sat on palm logs and joked and laughed while waiting for their bread to be ready for eating.

Mizuho had brought Takako and Puru back to the yacht, because it had been an exhausting day for the two of them and they needed to sleep. The girl had screamed and cried, because she hadn't wanted to leave, but in the end, the woman had managed to get her into bed and return to the bonfire.

Wataru sat next to his sister, who had brought the guitar of their father. They both knew how to play the instrument and later, maybe they'd even get the chance to actually prove it to their friends. The boy rested his chin in the palm of his right hand and stared down the beach to the ocean, which was quiet and silent tonight; the sea seemed to enjoy their warmth and the stories and all the cheerful voices.

Or so he imagined.

His eyes traveled up to the dark sky he knew so well. It was the same sky and the same stars like last night and the night before. He looked to the bonfire. The flames were bright and hot and white in their centers. He sighed without a sound and for a brief moment, he closed his eyes and wished with all his heart to see a different place when opening them again. But of course, he was still where he had been before trying, sitting on the log in front of the fire, taking in the cool, salty and slightly heavy air. His friends hadn't noticed a thing.

...

"Hey, how's a song?" a girl with short black hair asked later.

Kazuki could manage to remember that her name was Ookusa Miho.

"Yes, why not?" Kawamura said and smiled at Mizuho, who nodded.

"It'd be nice. The atmosphere is perfect"

Yuichi frowned slightly. The youths, he had to admit, were friendly and nice and cool and crazy, but singing?

"Are you sure?" he asked the monkey-siblings.

He received two similar gazes that both told him to shut up.

"Are you gonna play or shall I?" Karin asked.

"Let me, your hands are all full of dough" Wataru Fujii said and put the guitar on his lap.

"Which song do you want to hear?" he asked Mizuho and avoided his gaze. No, now he looked at Kazuki and he saw a strange kind of glow in his eyes. Like his mind was only partly here, and his heart somewhere far, far away.

"What kinds of songs do you know?" Mizuho asked back, joy coloring her voice.

"Hey Wataru, how's 'Breakaway'?" Miho asked.

In the big black eyes there was something shifting. Or was it only a flame? Kazuki couldn't tell.

"'Breakaway'? But that song is so old" Karin said and frowned deeply.

"So what? It fits the night" another girl muttered dreamily.

Wataru looked from one girl to the other, until he sighed and said "Ok, 'Breakaway'. After that, someone else can decide. And don't forget, _everyone_ will sing, got it?"

...

"_Na, na, na, na, na, na  
na, na, na, na, na  
na, na, na, na, na, na…"_

He knew the song but didn't know the lyrics by heart, so he just listened to the children of the island singing that song that everyone seemed to know. Right now, only the girls were humming and muttering the start. The boys seemed to flow on the acoustic waves the guitar was sending.

"_Na, na, na, na, na, na  
na, na, na, na, na  
na, na, na, na, na, na…"_

Mizuho moved her body faintly in the rhythm of the melody. She had half turned her upper body to the sea, which was behind them. She had closed her eyes and exposed her face to the wind.

...

"_Grew up in a small town  
And when the rain would fall down  
I'd just stare out my window  
Dreamin' of what could be  
And if I'd end up happy  
I would pray…"_

Wataru was only singing in a very low voice, barely audible above the sound of the guitar, the wind, the ocean and his friend's more or less melodious voices. They all knew the lyrics by heart, but tonight, for him it was even harder to sing this song as it usually was already. He didn't need to look on his fingers; he had played this song a thousand times already. But tonight, his fingertips burned with every chord, with every note.

"_Trying hard to reach out  
But when I tried to speak out  
Felt like no one could hear me  
Wanted to belong here  
But something felt so wrong here  
So I prayed I could breakaway…"_

His lips still moved but no sound came out of his mouth. Wataru's eyes wandered to the near-black ocean, which flowed into the now near-black horizon far, far away at a point he couldn't see anymore. It looked like it was all one and the Kumejima Island, no, this beach, was the center of the world. His world. Everything he knew.

A feeling he had felt so often recently, overwhelmed him like a gigantic, icy wave. He felt so divided, as if a crack in his heart was growing larger and deeper with each second he sat here and let the minutes and hours of his life slip away right through his fingers that played that song. His heart beat a jolty beat and suddenly it hurt and his heart beat faster, as if trying to run away from the pain, but it only got more and more and worse and worse. And even though he sang soundlessly, something in his voice quavered to a silent yell and then a silent nothing.

...

The song was carried through the night and seemed to be alive, filled with the voices and the thoughts of the youths who were singing the song. Even the boys sang, quieter and less talented, though. But they sang and each of them gave the lyrics an own, unique meaning, no one but them understood. Kazuki watched them how they were caught in the song like in a mighty current, which tossed and danced them around, randomly but also with care. Then his eyes fell upon the monkey with the guitar and what he saw caught him and didn't let him go anymore.

The black orbs were directed at the Pacific, but now, no fire was burning inside them anymore. All he saw was an endless sadness and a desperate longing. What for, he couldn't even tell but he could tell that the boy's heart was clinging to something which grew further and further out of his reach.

"_I'll spread my wings  
And I'll learn how to fly  
I'll do what it takes  
Till I touch the sky  
make a wish, take a chance, make a change  
And breakaway…"_

* * *

**To be continued...**_  
_

**All of you, please don't mind that I made Wataru play a guitar. I thought it was a nice idea, since it would just fit a Wataru, who lives17 years on a little island, to know how to play the guitar. He won't be much of a great musician in this story, all I wanted is to let you exactly feel the atmosphere :) **

**I hope you enjoyed =D**

**Please Review^^  
**


	4. The Life He Dreams Of

**Hi there^^ **

**Finally, after a really long time, I am able to update one of my stories. I was damn busy the past months and I'm afraid, it won't be changing anytime soon. Sometimes I think the day needs more hours or I wish that at least I'd need only half of the sleep.**

**But well, someday, I'll have more time to write again, I'm positive^^**

** I'll try to deliver the next chap as soon as possible, because then, finally the 'real' story of Ocean's Dream starts.**

**I hope you'll enjoy reading =D**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Only the Ring Finger knows  
**

* * *

Two days later Wataru woke up from the steady sound of endless amounts of water falling down on his little island. He lay deeply buried beneath his blanket and turned over to his other side, but the awfully loud and annoying tone kept him awake, making it unable to fall asleep again.

He glanced at his clock, 12.30 pm. He groaned sleepily and his eyes moved to his window. The rain looked like a dark gray, very thick curtain. Which meant it wasn't going to end anytime soon. He sat up and ran a hand through his messy hair. Already now he had no energy to move, yet he stood up and stumbled down the narrow stairs to the kitchen.

On the way down he almost fell over a cat resting peacefully on the bottom stair. In the last second he jumped over the animal, which squeaked and flew somewhere into the living room.

"Dear, leave the cat alone!" his mother yelled from the kitchen.

"I haven't done anything" he mumbled as he came in, sitting down on his chair.

Since (almost) every window and door was left open during summer (though it also depended on the weather), animals could enter and leave the house as they wished to, without anyone disturbing them and without disturbing anyone else. There were three dogs living in their village, somehow belonging to every family. The same went for the cats. Wataru liked those random, silent visitors. They were all nice and gentle. But today, he was in no mood for them. He sat on his chair, staring on his breakfast, without feeling any hunger. He just wanted to go back to bed and being left alone for the rest of the day.

"Honey, what's wrong?" his mother asked a few minutes later, entering their kitchen.

"Take a look outside" he mumbled gloomily.

Mrs Fujii sighed and ruffled his hair. "Why don't you go over to Kawamura's? I thought, every time it's raining, you and your friends go over to watch a few movies together"

"I'm in no mood…"

"It won't be raining forever" his mother smiled.

His gaze wandered to the window. "I believe, somewhere else, it never rains…"

This time, Mrs Fujii didn't know what to answer. She looked at him with care and also sadness in her eyes.

Then she just stood up and left.

...

Later, however, he still sat on a sofa in the small, comfortable living room of the Kawamura family, next to Miho, listening silently to his friends discussing which movie they wanted to watch. The girls wanted to watch some movie either with Johnny Depp or a love story. The boys wanted something with a lot of action, blood, explosions and half naked women. It was the same as always and Wataru was tired arguing. He was fine with every film they decided on, if they'd just hurry.

"Wataru, what would you like to watch?" Mai asked him out of the blue.

He startled slightly. "I don't care, really" he answered.

"Oh man, what's wrong with you? Depressed?" Kawamura asked.

He just shrugged. Not even he himself knew exactly what was wrong with him. And that was the most maddening thing of all.

...

It was late afternoon, as Kazuki jumped onto the deck, hearing his niece crying somewhere down at the beach.

"Takako!" he yelled, unable to see something through the rain.

"Mizuho! Where are you? Takako is gone!" he continued, jumping from the yacht into the shallow water.

"Yuichi, wait!" Mizuho appeared at the ladder.

Yuichi bit his lips. If something happened to Takako… He'd never forgive himself, let alone his elder brother and his sister-in-law. The crying came somewhere from the coast, following the beach one mile until some smaller cliffs began. Already seeing his niece drowning or hit by rocks, he started running, his heart beating so loud he barely registered how Mizuho yelled after him, telling him to stop and wait for her. Suddenly, two, no, three dark silhouettes appeared on the sand a few meters in front of him.

"Don't worry it's just me, your niece and her dog. And slow down, I don't want to be hit by you, again" a familiar voice said dryly the same moment.

"… Monkey?"

"Cut it out, will ya?".

Now that he stood in front of them, he was relieved. Takako still had tears in her eyes, but she seemed alright, except her right foot.

"What happened?"

"She stepped onto a sea urchin. It hurts, but it's not dangerous. Here"

The boy held a small white 'ball' with a lot of thin needles in his palm.

"Come, Takako, let's go back to the yacht" he said.

Takako sniffed. Yuichi lifted her up and carried her back. The monkey with the big black eyes followed, the dog whimpering in his arms.

...

Mizuho was taking care of Takako's hurt foot, so he was left alone with that weird boy.

"Thanks for the help" he said, sounding more unfriendly than he had wanted to. Well, even if the boy had noticed, he didn't give a damn.

"No problem"

They stood in the kitchen.

"Shall I show you the yacht?" he asked out of politeness.

"That'd be cool"

And so, Yuichi showed him the cabins, where they slept, the place where they ate, the bathroom, the engine room and even the bridge. His father greeted hastily, before returning to his work. The whole time, the smaller boy had a soft brightness in his eyes and he kept on asking questions, suddenly becoming a lot friendlier than before. It was almost as if a whole different guy was standing next to him.

Now, they stood in the small room where they ate, which was connected to the kitchen. There was a lounge with soft sofas screwed to the wooden wall. The table was dark, almost without any scratchers on it. At the wall opposite the lounge, there was a huge world map hanging. Countless little needles stuck in it, making some spots all over the world, most of them in the sea.

"What's that?" the smaller boy asked.

"All the places we've been already, mostly because of my father's work" Yuichi answered.

"What's your Dad doing, anyway?"

His smile was rather awry. "He's a modern treasure hunter. And he's one of the best. That's the reason, why our family has so much money"

"…You're kidding, right?" the monkey responded, deeply frowning.

"No, it's the truth"

The boy still didn't seem satisfied.

"I swear"

"And what's he doing here, then? Kumejima Island? I've never heard of a _real_ treasure being hidden here. All those legends are only stories for small kids"

"That's what_ you_ know"

They looked each other in the eye. Then they dropped the topic.

"Have you been to all these places together with your father?"

"When I was on vacation, then yes"

"…You've seen quite much from the world already, haven't ya?"

...

Wataru felt a growing envy in his chest. He looked at the taller boy, from the corners of his eyes, and the map with all those needles marking the places they've been to already. Here he was standing right next to a guy, who lived a life he had always dreamed of. And this boy didn't seem to realize, how lucky he actually was. This made him angry and envious and tired.

"So, you've been to… New York, London, Paris, Rome, Berlin, New Mexico, Shanghai, the Caribbean, the Philippines…" He could've continued like that for the whole night.

The blond guy nodded, shrugging at the same moment. Keeping silent.

"Crap, don't you think your life's damn great? It's never getting boring, right?"

The guy shrugged again. "For me, it has become quite boring already"

Now he got really angry. "You don't know how lucky you are, ya know?" he snapped.

Now that Kazuki looked at him with surprise in his eyes. "Why are you yelling at me, now?"

"I'm not yelling"

"You are. What's gotten into you?"

"Shut up"

He tried calming himself down, but it didn't really work.

"I'm leaving" he murmured, actually wanting to stay and stare at that map, until the rain would stop.

"Dude, at least stay here, until Takako's fine again. I'm sure she wants to thank you".

He shrugged. Then his shoulders dropped.

"Ok".

They kept silent for a few moments, either not knowing, what to say.

"Shall we go look after her?" the taller suggested.

"Yeah"

...

The small girl was able to smile again, a big portion of ice cream in front of her, a thick bandage around her foot.

"Thank you for your help" Mizuho said to him gently.

"Yes, Thaaaank you, Nii-chan!" the girl yelled cheerfully.

"No problem"

"Has Yuichi shown you the ship already?"

"Yes"

"Oh, ok"

They watched Takako happily eating her ice cream for a few seconds, until Wataru asked slowly "Do you want to come to the beach tomorrow evening? We'll play soccer, beach volleyball and so on. Wanna come?"

The blond guy and the woman changed a gaze.

"Why not? I'm sure, it'll be fun" Mizuho smiled.

"Ok. I'll tell the others"

He looked out of the window. "The rain's stopped. I'll be going now, I think"

"Well then. See you tomorrow"

...

Wataru startled slightly as he noticed Kazuki following him up the stairs to the deck.

"What is it?" the small boy asked, slightly frowning.

"Is there some kind of club or so on this island? You know, I gotta stay here for six weeks. So, is there some location to have some fun and meet people?".

"Dude, this is _Kumejima Island_, not Hawaii. Of course not. You could try in the town, but I doubt that you'll find something someone like _you_ would call a club" the boy answered a little hostile.

"Ok, don't snap at me again, 'twas just a question"

"I'm off now. See ya"

"Yeah"

...

Later, lying in his bed, he thought about that weird boy again. The way he had been staring up at the world map… the brightness in his eyes had been shining more than the sun in midst summer, but it had only lasted for a couple of moments, a sound of heartbeat… and then it had been gone, like never having been there.

Without exaggerating anything, he had never met someone like that monkey before. And, in a really weird kind of way, he found himself interested in him. Probably, he actually was someone worth knowing. Maybe tomorrow, he'd try analyzing the whole thing further. And until then, he'd just think about anything but that.

...

Later, falling onto his mattress, he felt really really tired, as if he had been awake for a couple of weeks. The envy in his chest was still there, pricking him from time to time, not letting him forget it. Not the world map, not the needles marking the places that family had seen already, not the scent of the whole wide world that seemed to stick to the inhabitants of that yacht. It was maddening. And, like so often before already, he wondered, what the hell he should do.

Do Tomorrow.

Do this summer.

Do after the vacation.

Do in his life.

Do, to make that pain finally go away.

* * *

**To be continued...**

**I hope you liked it. It's not full of action, but those two gotta know each other a bit, before anything else starts ;)**

**And I'd love to see a Review, because then, somehow the writing goes easier and faster^^  
**


	5. Next to the Sunset

**Hello there =)**

**Yay, an update! Please enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Only the Ring Finger knows.**

* * *

For foreigners, Kumejima Island might be a small paradise-like isle in the pacific, a small jewel in every holiday memory, a place where time seemed not to flow in a steady way but to stop and go whenever it felt like it.

"Wataru, lunchtime!" he heard his mother shout from somewhere on the cliffs.

He nodded, though of course his mother couldn't be able to see it. So he shouted "I'm comin'!" back, but didn't move an inch from where he was sitting. He sat on an old, turned rowboat and sketched what he was seeing. The beach, the cliffs, the forest and atop the cliffs, a few small glimpses from the village. His friends were somewhere in the inland of Kumejima Isle, hunting some fish in one of the countless rivers in the forest. But he hadn't been up for that. He was in no mood to see his friends right now.

"Wataru!" his mother shouted anew. Sighing he stood up and left his sketch block and his pencil in the warm sand behind him.

...

"Where have you been? Fishing was so cool today, in half an hour we caught eight big exemplars" his sister told him later, after lunchtime, as he sat in the garden and played with one of the village's dogs.

"Great" he answered without enthusiasm and Karin frowned.

"What's wrong with you lately? You always seem to think of something totally different, no matter what you're doing… and right now you're trying to feed the dog with cat food!".

He blinked and looked down to his hands. Yes, indeed. It was cat food. "I don't know" he sighed and sat back on his hands.

"Anyway, this evening you're coming with us, right?".

He nodded. "Yeah…".

"Because Mizuho-san, Takako and this blond arrogant half-wit are gonna come, too".

He shrugged. Not that he really cared, though it had been him to invite them. Why exactly, he couldn't tell.

"When are we leaving?".

"Don't know, how's four o'clock pm?"

"Ok. Ah yes, and my radio's gotten a little weird today after we went fishing… Could you _please_…?" His sister smiled innocently at him with a look in her eyes that always made him weak.

He rolled his eyes. "Ok, ok. Gimme your radio, I'll see what I can do…".

"You're the best!" Karin chirped cheerfully and ran upstairs to get her radio.

He turned back to the dog again which was still waiting for him to continue caressing and playing with him. "Well… maybe this evenings going to become better than I expect…" he murmured and tapped the dog on its head. "Who knows…"

...

As Mizuho, Takako, Puru and he himself got to the beach, the youths had already set up a large hill of dry woods, branches and driftwood for the bonfire later. Then there were two maybe 2,50m high wooden posts in the sand, a line between them, instead of a net. Two girls were drawing the field into the sand. Further away, there were twice two smaller posts standing in the sand, as replacements for actual goals. There would be the soccer field, then, he guessed. The youths were all working together and everyone seemed happily busy. Maybe three or four guys were carrying the drinks to the fireplace, letting it cool in a hole they had dug into the sand and filled with a tarp and cold water and ice.

"Hi there" suddenly said someone nearby.

"Hi" Mizuho smiled instantly and turned to the girl with short, black hair. Miho, or so…

"If you want, you may help us, we're fixing a raft, purely out of materials we find in the forest" she explained with a wide grin on her face.

"A raft? Why do you build a raft?" Takako asked curiously.

Miho twinkled at her "That's still a secret, but maybe I will tell you when you help…"

"I wanna help!" the girl squeaked immediately.

"Ok, go over there, where Mai is standing, you remember her, right?"

The little girl nodded and ran off, Puru hackling as he tried to follow her with his short legs.

"Children are so easy to cheat" Miho grinned satisfied.

"That's nothing to be proud of" Yuichi replied.

"Oh, c'mon, at least she doesn't annoy anyone because she has nothing to do" Mizuho chuckled, "All the youths here are so… straightforward" she said to the girl.

Miho started to laugh "Well, we don't learn to be so… how do they call it… _reserved_, they way they are in the big cities. Our life isn't as exciting as yours, so being reserved would make it simply… boring and bleak. We need our straightforwardness, for it's the only thing that gives everything color, you know?"

They talked a bit more, until Mizuho asked where they could help out.

"Well… Mizuho-san, you could help over there where the girls hang up the lanterns"

The older woman nodded and was welcomed cheerfully under the palm trees where the group of girls hung up the decorations.

"And where can I help?" Miho twinkled at him.

"What are you good for, anyway?"

Before he could reply, she started to laugh. "Don't worry, I didn't mean to offend you. Well, you, too, could help building the raft. We need strong guys for that work" she grinned.

He shrugged. "Ok"

"Then follow me, please!"

Even with a lot of fantasy, one couldn't imagine that the stuff on the ground was meant to be a raft soon, able to swim and carry people. The guys from the island discussed heatedly what to do to make the logs stick together to form kind of a platform. He listened carefully and thought about what to do, but it was indeed difficult; without modern stuff to fix it, he couldn't think of anything.

"Damnit. Where's Fujii? He'd know what to do" one of the guys sighed frustrated.

"As always, the Fujii siblings are late" another muttered.

But, suddenly, a girl cried from somewhere: "Finally! We've been waiting for you already!"

"Yeah, sorry!" another girl answered and he recognized the voice; it was from the sister of the little monkey. He turned and saw the siblings walking down some invisible path through the forest.

The monkey didn't even greet him with a nod or so; immediately he started to give orders to his friends, which, despite his height, they followed without complaints. He would have never admitted it, but he was indeed impressed by that.

"So and why are you still standing here and staring around, huh?" the monkey continued and looked up at him.

"Well -" he started to explain, but the smaller boy interrupted him: "No, just cut it out. Go help over there knotting the ropes together and do it properly" he said, his dark eyes flashing to his upper arms. "Let's see if you're capable of working with your muscle strength".

Now he saw a hint of a mischievous grin on the tanned face and suddenly he believed that the boy definitely liked to order him around.

...

After two hours, Wataru was satisfied with the raft. It wasn't the way he had imagined it, but better than expected, so he told his friends to stop and come to the bonfire.

"Good work, all of ya" he smiled.

"And what are we gonna do now?".

"Having fun, what else?"

They divided into several teams and played soccer and beach volleyball. And the games often resembled almost real fights, for especially the boys did everything to win (of course still staying fair). They threw themselves into the white, warm sand and in the case of soccer it always happened that at least two of them crashed into each other whilst battling over the ball. It was a great fun and their laughter could be heard all over the beach, the bay and the village, where their parents smiled and listened to the youths' joy.

When the sun slowly traveled closer to the horizon, they were tired, but they were all still busy. The boys prepared the barbecue and the girls the food. Wataru, on the other hand, was of the opinion that he had worked enough for the day and let his friends to the preparations; he was tuning the guitar in the meantime. Suddenly, someone sat down next to him. It was Mizuho.

"Hey" she smiled.

"Hey"

"Am I disturbing you?"

"No"

"Ok, then… well, I was impressed by the way you helped building the raft. Without your knowledge it would have never been this great"

He smiled at her "Thanks"

The woman nodded. Then she leaned back and watched the shallow waves hitting the beach in a calm manner. "You are so different from Yuichi"

"Thank goodness" he replied without thinking.

This made Mizuho chuckle "Yeah, already one of his kind is enough… And he even has an older brother, who is even worse"

He shook his head "Awful"

Now she laughed "Well, he wasn't always like this. Before, when he was still younger, he was, in some way, a bit like you. But unlike you, he sees the world without wonder now. Without seeing the miracles. This is, I guess, why he has become so blind to so many things".

Wataru looked up from his guitar and focused on the handsome, blond guy kneeling next to Takako and the dog in the sand, helping her to build a sandcastle.

"And he doesn't even know how lucky he is" he murmured, the envy tainting his voice. He felt the gaze of the older woman on him and looked away.

"You are envious of him, right?" she asked, care in her eyes.

"…Of course I am…" he muttered.

Mizuho didn't reply at that. She only stood up and left.

...

The food was great, but he wasn't that hungry. He only ate a bit to be polite and they gave Puru the leftovers. The youths were in a perfect mood; soon they began to joke, to talk, to sing and to make music. Like the other day, the monkey was playing the guitar. A nice atmosphere hung upon the beach; an emotion where one felt that time could stop now and forever, frozen in this one unique moment. Even if he would have never admitted it, he enjoyed it. Yeah, he really did.

At some point, the monkey gave the guitar to his sister and the attention was turned to her as they discussed which song they wanted to sing. He was thinking about one, too, as he noticed a quiet movement at the edge of the circle around the bonfire. He frowned. The monkey was gone. He muttered an excuse and used the moment of inattention to stand up. He saw a light shadow moving away from the bonfire, down the beach, which was bathed in the red light of the sunset. And he followed.

In the light of the last sunrays, he followed the boy up a narrow path to a high cliff. But instead of climbing to the top, he suddenly disappeared, from one moment to the other. He blinked. The monkey was gone. _How weird…_ He walked a few steps, intently observing his surroundings which looked like covered in liquid gold from the last sunrays. And then he found a small opening between two large rocks.

His eyes grew big as the got used to the twilight. It stood in a small natural cave inside the cliff. The cave was open to the sea, so he had an impressing view at the sunset and the ocean. And, the cave was full with stuff.

Everywhere laid models of wooden ships, sketches of landscapes, ships and animals hung at the walls, in one corner there lay a mattress and pillows and a blanket… everywhere were books and lanterns. And, on the floor sometimes there stood weird things out of wood, metal and whatever, looking a bit like small robots.

"What the heck are you doing here?" an angry voice asked. He looked and saw the boy standing at a desk, which was covered in paper and pencils.

"I followed you" he said defensively, realizing what the heck he had done just now.

"I can see that – but why? This is my cave! Get out!"

But instead of leaving, Yuichi took some more steps into the cave. It looked like it was the secret hiding spot of the teen. "This is… interesting. Did you build them all yourself?"

"Of course" the boy replied, a frown on his tanned face. The large dark eyes still looked furious. He took his time studying the stuff and drawings intently. The boy didn't say a word.

As he was finished, he turned to him. "You have talent".

The monkey shrugged.

"No really, I mean it. Are you planning on studying ship architecture or so to become a ship designing engineer?"

"And where do you think will I be able to study that?" the boy replied angrily "Of course I thought about that! But look at me! I won't be able to study anything while I am living here! But my family is too poor to let me study somewhere else. Now you know. Wanna laugh at me? Since you don't even know what being poor feels like or having one's dream smashed?"

He remained silent after that.

The boy shook tiredly his head. "Sorry. I didn't mean to snap at you. It's just that… I am so really jealous of you. I would do anything to study at university… But I cannot. You don't know how frustrating and maddening it is".

...

Wataru ran a hand through his messy dark locks. The blond still stood in the middle of his cave and said nothing, only stared out to the sea. "I'm sorry for that" the elder suddenly said. "Really. It's… you're right. It is unfair. That I have all the possibilities and you have none".

His words felt like salt in his wounds. "…Forget about it" he just replied, feeling really tired and really angry. He walked over and attempted to leave the cave, but suddenly he felt a hand on his shoulder, twisting him with a bit of force around to face the elder.

"What is it? Wanna pity me?" he spat out and looked at him, his fury taking over his words. The icy blue eyes bored themselves into his, but he wasn't one to get daunted with that. The hand remained on his shoulder; the unmoving, handsome face in front of him seemed like out of stone – as calm as the sea before the storm.

But eventually, he found himself getting lost in this intriguing blue and he would've given everything he had to know what these eyes had seen already… To see what they had seen, no matter if just for a glimpse of a heartbeat. The longing, the restless, hopeless longing in his heart was so strong it ached.

"…Explain it to me".

"What?".

"Explain everything to me. The ships, the engines, everything. I want to know how much you know about it".

"And why?".

"I bet you don't talk a lot about the stuff you're interested in, do you?".

Wataru narrowed his eyes. The elder boy was right, damn right. Talking about it made it even more unbearable. "So why would I talk to you, of all people? I don't even like you" he replies with a mean grin on his face.

The blond didn't blink: "Because I'm interested in it. And in you. Do you need more reasons?".

They stared at each other, measured how much belief there was in their eyes. Finally, Wataru shrugged and stepped away. "Fine. But only smart questions allowed, got it".

And the blond grinned: "Got it".

They eyes met again and this time, Wataru felt a weird, sharp pull in his chest, which he had never felt before.

* * *

**To be continued...**

**Sooo, finally I managed to update :) I hope you enjoyed this chapter.**

**Please Review =)**


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